h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hey, Lanza...

In your capacity as a 'font of geeky plant knowledge'...

I have been growing s in hanging baskets this year. They are now trailing a load of half-dead runners. What's best to do with 'em?
Cut 'em off and leave the plants in situ for next year.
Plant 'em and hope to propagate new plants
Throw the whole plants away and restock with new next year?

Usually, I grow my s in the garden and leave 'em year after year.

A

The considered advice is to cut them off from the parent plants, as soon as they start appearing, if you want the older ones to bear more fruit. The runners take the energy from the parent plant.


I've never been successful with growing strawberries apart from in the ground. Of course, in the ground, the runners root naturally and you can get loads of fresh new plants to plant further away - it's best to let them have a fair bit of space per plant. This can stop mildew and other diseases if they are too close.

If you want to propagate them from the hanging basket you will have to have a cunning array of small pots all around it (presumably lower the basket to a level where you can do this. Once they've rooted you can transplant them where you like.

Are they a good variety? It would hardly be worthwhile unless they produce really tasty strawberries.


The birds in our garden always get first look in at our strawberry patch

See! I said I was a plant . . .

Ah, that probably explains why my crop was a little disappointing. The variety is Elsanta. If I recall, I got 'em free from Homebase with a voucher from the D.Mail.
I grew them in hanging baskets in an effort to defeat the slugs. I'll try to remember to use your cunning array of little pots next year.
How's best to look after the hanging baskets now?

If the plants are worth saving then I would cut off the runners now, and then give the plants lots of fertiliser - or better still, take the plants out and replant them individually in 2litre plant pots. My dad has tried this, mostly because he finds walking to the top of the garden (we are on a huge slope) quite difficult. We put slug pellets round the plants as well.

If you do decide to keep the hanging basket intact, you will have to find somewhere quite sheltered for it during the winter, mostly to protect it from cold winds. Perhaps stand it on a large pot in a sunny corner?

Lanza. I'll probably keep them intact, fertilise them as you've suggested and keep them in the greenhouse